A crime scene was established a short time later and police and lifesavers evacuated the area.

Sydney police confirmed the discovery at a media conference around 1.15pm and said the children and parents involved in this morning's events were receiving counselling from the surf life saving club.

It is a "tragic event" and everyone involved is "very upset", a police spokesman said.

The body of the baby was buried under around 30cm of sand around 20-30 metres away from the water's edge. The age and sex of the child was unable to be determined due to the decomposition of the body. The child had no blankets with it. There are grave concerns for the wellbeing of the child's mother.

Police and lifeguards quietly secure the area where the body was found.Source: News Corp Australia

Police are now canvassing the area for CCTV footage to try to determine when the body was buried. A police spokesman said there was some decomposition which suggested the body could have been there for days.

The high temperature and winds were making investigations difficult however police hoped door knocking, hospital records and CCTV footage would provide vital clues as to the identity of the child's parents.

Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page.

Police work at the southern end of Maroubra beach. Picture Cameron RichardsonSource: News Corp Australia

JAKE Gyllenhaal isn't exactly known to be your typical big guy in Hollywood.

But to get into character for an upcoming film, he has transformed into a completely different person.

Gyllenhaal packed on 7kg of pure muscle to play Billy "The Great" Hope, a championship prize fighter for next year's Southpaw. Like any boxing drama, his character has lost everything in a personal tragedy and is forced to fight his way back through his boxing dream.

This isn't the first time Gyllenhaal has had to dramatically change his weight for a role. He lost around 10kg last year to play the adrenaline junkie camera man Lou Bloom in this year's thriller Nightcrawler.

Jake Gyllenhaal underwent an exreme transformation for his role in 'Nightcrawler', dropping an incredible 15kg and scaring his mother in the process.

Heston Blumenthal will incorporate Australian ingredients when he opens his Fat Duck restaurant in Melbourne's Crown Casino in 2015

Heston Blumenthal is moving his famous restaurant The Fat Duck to Melbourne in February 2015 for six months. Photo: Pierre ToussaintSource: Sunday Style

HESTON Blumenthal is trying to work out how to get the leather from the chairs of The Fat Duck restaurant over to Australia.

The chef has been scanning each minuscule detail of his three-Michelin-star restaurant as he negotiates moving "the whole kit, including the sign out the front and hopefully the leather from the seats" to Melbourne's Crown as it flies south in February.

The 48-year-old British chef, television host, author and champion of kitchen creativity is one of the most celebrated chefs in the world. He's beloved for his experimental approach that's seen him serve up savoury-sweet mash-ups such as liquid nitrogen ice-cream curry, sensory explosions like his Sound of the Sea dish (seafood with edible sand and sea foam, served with an iPod in a conch shell playing sounds of breaking waves), medieval banquet re-creations like four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie (don't fret; they survived), and themed dinners like the trippy 1960s feast which had guests licking the wallpaper.

Once he served Germaine Greer a bull's testicle disguised as a plum. He's a mad scientist, a joyous kid let loose in a chocolate factory — it's not for nothing he's been called the Willy Wonka of haute cuisine.

Blumenthal is as revered Down Under as in his home country: more than 90,000 people entered the online lottery for a seat at the Melbourne iteration of The Fat Duck, which will be open from February until August next year at the Crown. Only 14,000 lucky diners succeeded in their quest to pay $525 per head (plus drinks) for his crazy creations. Seats were so in demand that scalpers managed to scam the ballot, booking multiple tables under false names.

Blumenthal is both flattered and appalled: "I've been completely blown away by the reaction; it's been really humbling," he says. But, he acknowledges, "the fact that some have chosen to go to such great lengths to cheat the system is disappointing. We worked so hard to make it fair for everyone. The matter is being dealt with; it's not over."

Those who missed out will have to be satisfied with the surprisingly accessible Heston for Coles range, which has now extended to a Christmas line, including turkey and a chocolate sauce Christmas pudding. Team Heston considered Las Vegas, St Tropez, Miami and Dubai as locations for the overseas launch of The Fat Duck. Then they found Melbourne.

"'Why go all the way to Australia?' people in England ask," he says. "But the Duck is full of Australians, and think of the effort that goes into coming." Australia does not have a strong history of regional food culture, he says. "It's the opposite of Italy. Italy does simple food brilliantly, but order a cappuccino after lunch and you get kicked out. You can't have cheese and fish together, you can't put garlic in a ragu. It's that rigid. But here everyone is just so excited and interested to try new things."

He tells me about a conversation he had with a taxi driver in Melbourne about making an extra hole in his pita bread to separate the various fillings. "Imagine a London cabbie saying that! They'd say: 'You're the chef who does all that funny stuff, innit?' [In Australia] I'm seeing the biggest explosion of food of any country in the world."

To take advantage of this, Melbourne's Fat Duck will turn into an outpost of the London restaurant Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, which takes over the Crown site permanently in mid-2015.

Despite — or perhaps because of — his professional success, Blumenthal's 22-year marriage to Zanna, with whom he has three teenage children and whom he often praised for her sacrifices during the early years of his career, ended in 2011. Now dating US food writer Suzanne Pirret, he's tight-lipped about the split and his new relationship.

That hard-won professional success began in the cramped kitchen of The Fat Duck, housed in a 16th-century cottage. It was the setting that nurtured an enduring obsession which started when he was 16. In 1982, Blumenthal and his family went to a three-star restaurant in Provence, France.

"I'd never been inside a Michelin-starred restaurant before and I was hooked. It knocked me for six. It was a wonderland. I bought the book Great Chefs of France by Quentin Crewe, and it was from there I started teaching myself high-school French and cooking."

In 1995, when he was 29, Blumenthal bought the 450-year-old pub that would become one of the most creative, talked-about, covetable dining experiences in the world. But it didn't start out as a search for perfection.

"I just wanted to be a chef," he explains. "But the memory of that experience in France remained so powerful — the crunching of your feet on the gravel, the smell of the lavender on the way in; The Fat Duck didn't have that. I had a cottage on the side of the road. So my gravel and lavender and chink of glasses, the noise of the crickets in France, came through the food. That's where the sensory stuff comes from. That menu has developed because of that memory." If the memory captivated him, the tiny, barely functioning kitchen helped form him. "That kitchen was brutal, even by chefs' standards.

But there was something about how it constrained me that made me cook the way I do," says Blumenthal. "The gas pressure was so weak the chef couldn't keep the water boiling [to blanch] green beans, so he decided to find out what really happens when you cook green beans." Blumenthal became obsessed with the science of food. He asks me whether I know if you cut the leek one centimetre from the root it tastes different from another centimetre up the vegetable, and so on. I didn't.

"The kitchen forced me down that route. You lose yourself in that." Many would have walked away from such a confronting space. "I seem to chuck myself out of my comfort zone all the time, which is something we should do. But I had no idea I was going to do all these things, or that the food was going to end up where it is. A young chef comes in, 200 metres from England's best restaurant [Michel Roux's three-Michelin-star The Waterside Inn], gets three stars, blah blah blah, and it looks like a big master plan. But all I wanted to do was cook. And get it right. Nothing else. I was obsessed with technique."

The driven, self-taught cook spent his income on "French chefs' books". He always came back to the best food he'd ever tasted. "I'd think, 'What's the best ice-cream I've ever had?' and that's where I had to get mine to. I got frustrated because I'd take 10 books and 10 chefs — some use honey, some sugar, some glucose, single cream, double cream, mascarpone, and I'd think, 'Do they know which is best?' I was obsessive. That's where the bacon-and-egg ice-cream, and the sardines-on-toast ice-cream [from The Fat Duck menu], came from."

There's a fine line between attention to detail and obsession: on which side does the chef fall? "I'm not really [obsessive]. I've tried table tennis, I've had a couple of guitar lessons, I say, 'Yeah, that's all right'. But with the restaurant, the menus, I don't compromise on anything. That's the one part of my life I do that. I'm not obsessive-compulsive, but I have ADD. Attention-deficit disorder. When I found out, I asked, 'Surely with ADD, they don't pay attention to anything?' That's true, until they find something they like. And then, that's it. I think that was true for me. I don't think it's true now."

It was once, though. Is he ever satisfied that he's done enough? When Blumenthal discovered he had been awarded his second Michelin star, "The first thing I said was, 'Sh*t, we need a new sommelier.' It's always about doing better. I'm definitely better now."

A search for the best became Blumenthal's obsession (his cafe at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2, opened in June, is even named The Perfectionists' Cafe), so when the BBC tapped him to host a television series in 2006, they suggested calling it Perfection. He preferred In Search of Perfection.

"[Being a chef] is hard enough, and if you have a perfectionist approach, it's not good for creativity, because that breeds fear of failure. If you fear failure, you'll never experiment. It's about discovery, embracing the unknown — that's really important."

And it's the search for the new, not perfection, that's now his obsession. The chef is nurturing his creativity via a huge renovation of The Fat Duck's kitchen, and also plans to build an entire lab dedicated to the elusive art.

"I spend so much time doing development for Coles or Waitrose [a posh British supermarket], but [I need to] carve out time for what I want. I've become a jack-of-alltrades. You end up in back-to-back meetings. I walk in and taste stuff, and people are standing around looking at me eating. I've become a quality controller. I want to give a lot of that back so I can be creative. The Fat Duck is nearly 20, so now I'm being selfish. I want to play, get excited — and I want a lab with a door that goes 'swoosh'."

If great ventures and new discoveries are his agenda, then his new project is one giant leap in the right direction. "We're doing space. Yep," he laughs. Blumenthal is working with the UK Space Agency to develop space food for British astronaut Tim Peake's six-month mission to the International Space Station.

"It's the opportunity to learn," he says. "These guys are going to be out there for six months, you can't be plucked further out of your society than to be in space, so the food needs to connect them to home. I'm really excited."

He compares his life and projects, the space work, the move to Australia, the supermarket ranges and refurbishment of The Fat Duck, to pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, "and now I just have to put it together". Does he think he will ever finish it? "No. You can't ever finish the jigsaw puzzle, because then you have to go to bed."

2. Place the nuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 12 minutes.

3. In the meantime, put 150ml water and the sugar into a small saucepan. Place it over medium-high heat and bring to the boil.

4. When the temperature of the liquid reaches 135ºC, or the syrup is beginning to colour at the edge of the pan, add the pistachios and whisk until the syrup has completely crystallised and coated the nuts.

1. Bring the water, coffee beans, cocoa powder and salt to a simmer in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat and cover.

2. Place the sugar in a stainless steel saucepan over medium heat to make a dry caramel. When the caramel is goldenbrown, reduce the heat and slowly pour in the water mixture, stirring continuously. The mixture should automatically boil from the heat of the sugar.

3. Add the chopped chocolate to the caramel and mix well. Remove from the heat. Pass through a fine sieve and reserve until needed.

For the crystalliseddark chocolate

120g white caster sugar

130ml water

56g dark chocolate (minimum

70% cocoa solids), chopped

into small pieces

1. Place the sugar and the water in a pan over medium-high heat and allow to heat up to 150ºC. Once the temperature is reached, add the chocolate, remove the pan from the heat and vigorously mix using a whisk.

2. The mixture will begin to bubble until it dries and turns into powder. Continue whisking until all the mixture has become powder. Pour over a tray lined with parchment paper and allow to cool completely.

To finish

Heston for Coles Hidden Chocolate Christmas pudding

Vanilla ice-cream

Crystallised pistachios

Chocolate sauce

Crystallised chocolate

1. Cut the warm pudding into small pieces and place in the bottom of a glass. Add a couple of scoops of the vanilla ice-cream. Sprinkle with some of the crystallised pistachios.

2. Drizzle some of the warm chocolate sauce on top. Repeat the layering process one more time. Top with chocolate sauce and crystallised chocolate.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have targeted with some odd lawsuits.Source: Getty Images

KIM Kardashian's butt isn't just the most viewed — it's the most sued.

The reality TV star is one of the most popular targets of "pro se" lawsuits, the often unhinged legal actions filed without the help of an attorney. Looking for someone to blame for their troubles — or perhaps just looking for attention — plaintiffs like to accuse the rich and famous.

For celebrities, it comes with the territory, said lawyer Martin Garbus, whose high-profile clients have included Lenny Bruce, author Terry McMillan, Michael Moore, Robert Redford and Nelson Mandela.

"I think nobody likes it. I think after a while, you learn to deal with it," he said.

Most pro se cases filed in court against celebrities are tossed before the defendant is even aware they're filed, Garbus said.

"It's very easy, it's very gratifying" for some folks to sue the famous, he said.

Here's a look at some of the alleged wrongdoings of celebrities, based on the cases filed against them.

Kim Kardashian probably laughs at some of these lawsuits.Source: Getty Images

Kim's Kongress:

Before she fell for Kanye, the bootylicious Kim Kardashian had a steamy affair with Florida Senator Marco Rubio in the state capital in Tallahassee — and this plaintiff claims to have the sex tape to prove it!

"I am in possession of this sex tape that Marco Rubio & Kim Kardashian has made and the defendants collectively have been threatening my life with murder, death threats, and bodily harm unless I return the tape to them," says Jonathan Kimberly, a Florida man who lists the Boca Raton headquarters of the National Enquirer as his address.

He sought, but didn't get, a restraining order.

In a separate suit filed in Kentucky (where Kimberly uses the headquarters of media company Gannett as his address), he claims Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian "sped up to me in a A-team van, jumped out with burglar masks and crow bars and began bashing my head … and Kim Kardashian jammed the water hose in my mouth, Khloe pushed a squeegee in my face, I was lathered down with hot soapy water by the defendants which offended me."

He didn't get a restraining order in that case, either.

Kim Kardashian gets sued all the time, the price of fame.Source: Getty Images

More Kim Shenanigans:

A Brooklyn man also claimed to have the dirt on Kardashian — including steamy encounters with quarterback Tim Tebow and Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann.

Gino Romano alleged this in separate 2012 lawsuits that also claimed the Kardashians ran an "Armenian terrorist training camp in Central Illinois."

Kim and Bachmann apparently got it on at "a Cedar Rapids Wendys," Romano says in an Iowa lawsuit seeking a restraining order.

A Bronx woman who went to court against Kardashian, Beyonce and Mariah Carey, implying she's really the mother of the superstars' offspring, says she's really just misunderstood.

Tina Seals, 43, told The Post she never meant to imply she was the real mother of Beyonce's baby Blue Ivy, or songstress Carey's twins, or Kardashian's daughter, when she filed lawsuits this summer in Manhattan Federal court against the stars claiming to be "associated with" them, and asking to "verify maternity."

"I didn't know it was going to be such a firestorm," she told The Post when asked about her claims, before launching into an explanation — sort of — of how she believes her DNA is being "trafficked."

Instead of getting knocked up the old fashioned way, celebrities, Seals says, often use "services" to get pregnant. The mother of three grown children, who believes a baby was recently stolen out of her own body, says the stars need to know their babies could have come from illicit genetic material.

So naturally, she asked Carey in court papers for "five vocal sessions with Moriah's [sic] vocal coach 5 cd's produced mixed mastered distributed by Moriah's label with her featured on one and all five endorsed by her."

When it comes to Blue Ivy, daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z, Seals is much more direct.

"I was associated with defendants in a quasi arrangement during the time at Blue Ivy's birth and would like to verify maternity."

She also wants "mandated mediation pending test results" because, "I desire to preserve this relationship as these are great people!"

Gwyneth Paltrow is NOT dating Donald Sterling.Source: Getty Images

Gwyneth and Sterling:

"I ain't the real Chris Martin da singer, But [sic] Donald Sterling of the Clippers think [sic] I am," a man named Chris Martin wrote in a July lawsuit filed in Florida, in which he seeks $10 million and an emergency restraining order against Sterling and — who else? — actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

The pair, Martin explains matter-of-factly, are lovers, for which Paltrow gets paid $500,000 a month so the two can "breed" tall, blonde, blue-eyed offspring "under Sterlings Nazi Aryan Beliefs."

Sterling threatened him in an apparent case of mistaken identity, according to Martin: "My phone rings, and at the same time a rock throws through my window and tires screeched away. I pick up the phone and it's Donald Sterling.

Martin, not the singer, insists, ""I'm just a innocent victim — wrong Chris Martin. I'm also gay and I smoke medical marijuana and I got PTSD from the illegal war in Iraq, so I don't need this crap and feel like a mouse trapped ... I don't want no more Sterling calls.

"I'm in danger. I'm an emotional wreck. I seek $10 million dollars."

Martin, who put down the Manhattan headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer as his address, got nada.

Some guy wanted royalties from Michael Jackson's Thriller. The judge told him to beat it.Source: Supplied

It's a Thriller:

When your dad is the Godfather of Soul, you're bound to pen some hit music, right?

Colorado man Vincent E. Loggins — who claims he was fathered by James Brown in Kingston, Jamaica — accused music legends Diana Ross, Smoky Robinson [sic] and famed Motown producer Berry Gordie in 2010 of taking music from him, and asked for Quincy Jones and rapper Ice Tea to serve as character witnesses.

But what he really wanted, Loggins said, was royalties from Michael Jackson's Thriller, the lyrics of which he claims he "scribbled on pulp wrote with indian ink ... while residing in the state of Oklahoma."

Bad boy Bieber is no stranger to being in court.Source: Supplied

$800 Billion Please:

She's leaving nothing to chance.

A San Jose, Calif., woman named Suki Lee had a beef with a wide variety of folks, including Justin Bieber, actress Keke Palmer, TLC rapper T-Boz, and each of their "entire" families, as well as the CEO of Twitter, because the social media platform "has allowed Keke Palmer to impersonate [her]."

That is, when the artists aren't "stealing [her] music off the internet and saleing [sic] it for millions of dollars."

For her troubles, Lee asked a judge to award her $800 billion in damages — which was denied when her case was tossed.

Is Dancing With The Stars discriminatory? A judge said no. Picture: Mike Keating.Source: News Corp Australia

Footloose in a Federal Pen:

A Pennsylvania crook with a penchant for filing wacky federal lawsuits outdid himself in 2010 when he sued the cast of Dancing with the Stars — which at the time included actress Shannen Doherty, Erin Andrews, NFLer Chad Ochocinco and astronaut Buzz Aldrin — for "promoting adultery."

Jonathan Lee Riches, a federal prison inmate who by some estimates has filed 5,000 frivolous lawsuits nationwide, claimed the TV show was "discriminating against ... Muslim faith by promoting adultery and dancing is forbidden in Islam and we are being forced to watch the defendants enjoy themselves on television while billions of people in the world cannot afford a TV set."

Riches insisted he wasn't alone: he listed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Underwear Bomber, as his co-plaintiff. He filed from a Kentucky prison, where Riches was serving time for wire fraud.

Riches demanded a restraining order, but a judge, citing Riches history of litigation — which includes posing as Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff and suing himself — shot down the suit.

Some guy reckons he writes all of Jay-Z's songs.Source: AFP

99 Problems, and He's One:

So where does Jay-Z get his inspiration? A Florida man has the answer.

"I ghost write for Mr. Carter all the way to 2014," writes Jeffney Philistin in an October lawsuit against Jay-Z, whose given name is Shawn Carter, and the rapper's superstar wife, Beyonce.

Philistin, 27, who is serving a 30-year prison sentence for robbery in Florida, says he began corresponding with Jay-Z back in 2010, through a fellow inmate named "Chuck," who encouraged Philistin to send Jay-Z lyrics through the mail so "he can up grade in this new era."

Months later, Philistin claims, he heard Jay-Z using his words on a single from the disc Watch the Throne.

"Mr. Carter has stolen the plaintiff lyrics, style, physical image through his lyrics. Also the plaintiff have given [sic] the defendant Mr. Carter ideas on how to write lyrics, how to zone rap, and other ideas how to write in universal god language."

Philistin, who has been in jail since 2006, says Jay-Z even wrote him a letter, admitting that it was Philistin who "gave [him] the most help in this music industry, but I refuse to pay you. I know you are thinking I am a millionaire but that's just how it is I have con [sic] you."

Because he hasn't gotten his promised payment, the prison inmate is demanding $90 million in damages.

Don't mess with Clint Eastwood.Source: News Corp Australia

Unforgiven:

A Michigan woman seeking a cool $343 million in damages says her screenplays have been repeatedly pilfered by none other than Dirty Harry.

In a lengthy tale of corruption, theft and family despair, Jill Crittenden alleges Clint Eastwood stole a screenplay she wrote, after it was lifted by co-workers who burgled her home.

Jill Crittenden sought a 2012 search warrant for all of the "banks and properties" of the actor-director, along with 24 other defendants ranging from her ex-colleagues to Disney.

But it wasn't the first time she and Eastwood crossed paths, Crittenden said. "I had thrown a screenplay called Divine Love over the fence of Clint Eastwoods and had tried to met [sic] him but learned later he was a subsidiary of Time Warner ... I was too poor to fight Clint Eastwood and his cleverness."

The internet is a haven for so much more than most realise.Source: Supplied

THE internet is one of the greatest resources that man has ever invented.

It is a huge database of pretty much everything we have ever wanted to know. But instead of watching cat videos or pirating Game of Thrones, you should be taking advantage of all of this cool free stuff right at your fingertips.

Google Drive/Dropbox — A surprising number of people don't know this service exists. They are part of the cloud. Yes, that thing which stores all your information online. Both Google Drive and Dropbox will let you upload all your photos and documents online so they can be accessed on any computer, phone or tablet at any time. Super handy.

Instant free credit check — Thinking of getting a loan for a new car? Run a quick check through this site to make sure your credit is in order.

Oz Bargain — Do you order things online without searching for a discount? Stop being a chump and get on Oz Bargains. Whether it be food, clothes or electronics, chances are Oz Bargain has a code that will at least save you a little bit of money.

Ted Talks — These speeches cover a wide range of topics and can be inspiring, informative or just entertaining and interesting. Many famous people have given talks including Stephen Hawking and Steve Jobs. Most only take around 15 minutes and we guarantee you'll feel smarter at the end.

Wolfram Alpha — This is your answer to everything. Literally. Ask any question, whether it be your kid's calculus homework, nutrition facts on any food or the exact chance you have when gambling. All will be revealed.

Open Yale Courses — This is a free selection of introductory courses taught by teachers and scholars from the renowned Yale university. You won't get a degree out of it, but it will certainly teach you a lot.

iTunes U — Similar to Open Yale Courses, iTunes U is a set of free podcasts on various subjects from different universities and colleges.

Freerice.com — This is not a source for you to get free rice. Rather, it's a source for you to give free rice to the disadvantaged. All you have to do is play a quiz game on the site, and the ad revenue the site makes from you being on there is used to buy rice for those in need.

Learn things while you do good.Source: Supplied

Pandora — This is perfect for when you just want to have music on in the background. Just pick an artist, song or genre and Pandora will make a 'radio station' of songs based around the track you picked.

7 Cups of tea — Feel like you just need someone to talk to? 7 Cups of Tea is a place where you can head and talk to trained active listeners. It's free, anonymous and everything is confidential.

Duolingo — A great site that teaches you languages for free.

F.lux — Did you know that using your phone or computer before you go to sleep is bad for you? Well it is. F.lux wants to help you, it changes the colours of your screen to reduce eye strain. While you still probably should drop the phone, this is the next best thing.

Cards Against Humanity — Why buy the hilarious, politically incorrect card game when you can just print it off yourself?

Get tech help for free — Having computer problems? Are the younger people in your life sick of you bugging them? Ask your question here and the friendly folk on the internet will help you through it.

Do you know a site that is useful? Share your tips in the comments below.

Australian skipper Michael Clarke has made an emotional statement on behalf of the players after the tragic passing of Phillip Hughes.

Michael Clarke's courageous leadership is just what Australia needs on the field against India.Source: Getty Images

Michael Clarke has stood tall in the most trying of circumstances, and Australia hopes the courageous leadership role played by the captain can extend to him taking the field against India next week.

A final decision on when the Brisbane Test will be postponed to is expected on Monday, but it's almost certain the series will now start at Adelaide Oval, the last home ground for South Australian batsman Phillip Hughes before his tragic passing.

The Gabba Test looks set to be slotted in later in the summer, which would require adjusting other parts of the schedule.

THE PHILLIP HUGHES I WILL MISS

WE LOVED HIM, ALWAYS WILL

FIRST TEST MAY BE DELAYED FOR GRIEVING PLAYERS

AB: HOW WILL SEAN ABBOTT RETURN?

CA PROMISES SAFETY REVIEW

SPORT'S RANDOM CRUELTY LEAVES CRICKET STUNNED

Cricket Australia were hoping for an announcement on Sunday, but after another 24 hours of earnest discussion and telephone hook-ups, time differences with India delayed them getting the final approval they need from the BCCI.

For reasons both emotional and physical, no one is asking Clarke to rush back to playing before he's ready.

But the bravery Clarke has displayed on behalf of the Hughes family and teammates this week reflects how important his presence would be to the psyche of a grieving Australian team when the time comes for them to return to Test cricket.

Clarke spent yesterday morning paying birthday tributes to his 'brother' Hughes, who would have turned 26.

The pair were as close as two teammates could be, and at the moment Clarke — like many other Australian players — hasn't even comprehended how he's going to get back on the horse.

The other, far less important issue, pertains to Clarke's injured hamstring.

Clarke wasn't going to be fit to play the Brisbane Test in any case, however he and medical staff were quietly confident he could make a comeback in Adelaide if his left hamstring continued to show improvement.

However, for obvious reasons, Clarke hasn't had a chance to continue his rehabilitation program over the past few days.

Former Australian bowler Brendon Julian has called on the public to support the country's domestic cricketers following the tragic death of Phillip Hughes.

The skipper barely left the side of Hughes and his family at St Vincent's Hospital, and since then has been grieving with teammates and friends at the SCG.

Clarke completed a gym session with trainer and close friend Duncan Kerr at the SCG on Saturday after the gruelling ordeal of fronting the media to read a tribute to Hughes on behalf of players.

The 33-year-old has only had one chance to see his physiotherapist and with Hughes' funeral on Wednesday in Macksville, it goes without saying Clarke's hamstring is the least of his concerns.

It would be premature to predict whether Clarke would be physically fit for Adelaide, let alone emotionally prepared — given the deeply personal relationship he's shared with the Hughes family.

Phillip Hughes is honoured on the scoreboard at Adelaide Oval.Source: News Corp Australia

Before and after Clarke showed enormous strength to sit in front of cameras and read his heartfelt message to Hughes, the skipper sat with friends in the SCG dressing rooms and shared stories about the hard-working, cheeky left-hander who came down from the country to join him at Western Suburbs all those years ago.

Clarke scrolled through photos and videos of some of the great times he and Hughes shared on the road together.

On Sunday, Clarke posted many of those images on social media as he recognised Hughes' birthday.

The rest of the Australian squad is spending time at home with their families before they will all congregate in Macksville for the funeral.

The New Zealand cricket community continues to mourn Phillip Hughes, with skipper Brendon McCullum reading a statement before the start of play on day three of the third Test against Pakistan.

A date for the squad to assemble and begin preparations for Adelaide would likely be made after that.

Australia has some strong leaders in its set-up, including Brad Haddin — who was set to become a Test captain in Brisbane before tragedy struck.

David Warner and Steve Smith are also tough characters.

But Haddin and Warner were in Hughes' immediate vicinity when he was felled by that fateful bouncer, and the trauma of what they witnessed can't be underestimated.

Smith was a long-time teammate of Hughes and has also been deeply distressed.

The first Test match is going to be an incomprehensible struggle for Australian players, and whether he plays or not, Clarke will be required to continue leading from the front.

The backdown will not satisfy renegade Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie who wants a "real" pay rise (inflation is running at 2.3 per cent). Senator Lambie also wants the restoration of all six leave days at a cost of more than $120 million and has threatened to oppose all government legislation until this occurs.

"It's all or nothing on the ADF pay deal. I'm not going to take any prisoners. It's time to empty the magazine, fix bayonets and charge," she said yesterday.

"It may be a small battle win, but I'll not be satisfied with any result short of a total victory in the ADF fair pay war."

Senator Lambie will meet with Mr Abbott later this week and the government will announce its partial backdown before parliament rises.

Army wife Sarah Lowe, pictured with daughters Heidi and Emma, says her family time is "extremely precious. Picture supplied.Source: Supplied

Labor and the minor parties are due to bring on an urgent debate on the defence entitlements issue in the Senate by midweek.

Mr Dagger had no idea that his online petition against defence pay cuts would generate an incredible 60,000 signatures and go global.

Responses have flooded in from around Australia and the world including Quan Ha Dong from Vietnam who posted this message: "During the war the Australian soldiers protected my family. I would not be alive today if they did not save us."

Mr Dagger said: "They send people into harm's way but give them a pay rise that is below inflation."

Australian skipper Michael Clarke has made an emotional statement on behalf of the players after the tragic passing of Phillip Hughes.

Michael Clarke's courageous leadership is just what Australia needs on the field against India.Source: Getty Images

Michael Clarke has stood tall in the most trying of circumstances, and Australia hopes the courageous leadership role played by the captain can extend to him taking the field against India next week.

A final decision on when the Brisbane Test will be postponed to is expected on Monday, but it's almost certain the series will now start at Adelaide Oval, the last home ground for South Australian batsman Phillip Hughes before his tragic passing.

The Gabba Test looks set to be slotted in later in the summer, which would require adjusting other parts of the schedule.

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Cricket Australia were hoping for an announcement on Sunday, but after another 24 hours of earnest discussion and telephone hook-ups, time differences with India delayed them getting the final approval they need from the BCCI.

For reasons both emotional and physical, no one is asking Clarke to rush back to playing before he's ready.

But the bravery Clarke has displayed on behalf of the Hughes family and teammates this week reflects how important his presence would be to the psyche of a grieving Australian team when the time comes for them to return to Test cricket.

Clarke spent yesterday morning paying birthday tributes to his 'brother' Hughes, who would have turned 26.

The pair were as close as two teammates could be, and at the moment Clarke — like many other Australian players — hasn't even comprehended how he's going to get back on the horse.

The other, far less important issue, pertains to Clarke's injured hamstring.

Clarke wasn't going to be fit to play the Brisbane Test in any case, however he and medical staff were quietly confident he could make a comeback in Adelaide if his left hamstring continued to show improvement.

However, for obvious reasons, Clarke hasn't had a chance to continue his rehabilitation program over the past few days.

Former Australian bowler Brendon Julian has called on the public to support the country's domestic cricketers following the tragic death of Phillip Hughes.

The skipper barely left the side of Hughes and his family at St Vincent's Hospital, and since then has been grieving with teammates and friends at the SCG.

Clarke completed a gym session with trainer and close friend Duncan Kerr at the SCG on Saturday after the gruelling ordeal of fronting the media to read a tribute to Hughes on behalf of players.

The 33-year-old has only had one chance to see his physiotherapist and with Hughes' funeral on Wednesday in Macksville, it goes without saying Clarke's hamstring is the least of his concerns.

It would be premature to predict whether Clarke would be physically fit for Adelaide, let alone emotionally prepared — given the deeply personal relationship he's shared with the Hughes family.

Phillip Hughes is honoured on the scoreboard at Adelaide Oval.Source: News Corp Australia

Before and after Clarke showed enormous strength to sit in front of cameras and read his heartfelt message to Hughes, the skipper sat with friends in the SCG dressing rooms and shared stories about the hard-working, cheeky left-hander who came down from the country to join him at Western Suburbs all those years ago.

Clarke scrolled through photos and videos of some of the great times he and Hughes shared on the road together.

On Sunday, Clarke posted many of those images on social media as he recognised Hughes' birthday.

The rest of the Australian squad is spending time at home with their families before they will all congregate in Macksville for the funeral.

The New Zealand cricket community continues to mourn Phillip Hughes, with skipper Brendon McCullum reading a statement before the start of play on day three of the third Test against Pakistan.

A date for the squad to assemble and begin preparations for Adelaide would likely be made after that.

Australia has some strong leaders in its set-up, including Brad Haddin — who was set to become a Test captain in Brisbane before tragedy struck.

David Warner and Steve Smith are also tough characters.

But Haddin and Warner were in Hughes' immediate vicinity when he was felled by that fateful bouncer, and the trauma of what they witnessed can't be underestimated.

Smith was a long-time teammate of Hughes and has also been deeply distressed.

The first Test match is going to be an incomprehensible struggle for Australian players, and whether he plays or not, Clarke will be required to continue leading from the front.